The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-04
re LESSEN PRODUCTION.
ssAvAL STORES PRODUCERS MEET
FOR THAT PURPOSE.

Question OF Wages Discussed-A Con-
ference with the Factors Results in
Breaking Up the Meetine-The Fac
tors Do Not Favor the Scheme
The Mutual Naval Stores Producers As
Ssociation held its second meeting at the
Marshall House yesterday, the main pur
pose being to devise a plan 70 reduce the
product OF rosin ana spirits Of turpentine
in order to dispose Of the large stocks that
have cut down prices below the cost Of pro
duction resident johnson said that al
the present prices the operators are losing
money on everything they sell. and that the
association is DESTROYS OF limiting the pro
ductjo1 during the coming year by reducing
the number 81 new boxes cut. The prices
az labor. he said. ara too high, and some
stems ought n b. taken 10 reduce them. He
WAS sure the matter could be remedied if
the producers would unite, and he saw no
reason why they could not. II l. done in
the North. be added. The STANDARD Oil
Company has control Of the oil business
because al the various companies united,
and lately whisky pool has been formed.
and he could not See why the South could
not do the same thing with her industries.
LACK or UNITY.
Mai William Letford said that the pro-
ducers did not seem to want to come to
esther They could control the market if
tbey would In New England even the
manufacture Of pins and tacks is controlled
by pvols and when the production is greater
than the demand. the production ceases I'M
III the demand increases, and thus prices are
maintained. He could not understand why
the producers of naval stores could not do
81 tE.t- haxy
plutted the market until they have ruined
prices The operators Of Georgia hold in
the-hollow Of their hands absolute control Of
an article that is a necessity to the world.
Twice before this the turpentine men have
found that they were making no money. In
1877 they laid it at the door of the railroads;
in 1858 they charged it to the high price of
labor, and now they charge it
IN the commission merchants, but
in his opinion, if labor cost nothing, the rail
roads haul it and the factors sell it without
charge they will get nothing for it as long
as they continued TO produce all they can
when there is no one to buy it.
PRESERVE THE FORESTS.
Concluding, Mai Letford said: "Shall we
exhaust the finest forests in the world and
get nothing for themf When we are in a
position to demand higher prices we will be
our own masters, and if we resolve tn cut
neighbors may cut, then we will realize
on the crop now in the country for specula-
ton will take hold, and then we will make
our Just profits, ana the exhaustion of our
forests will not mean ruin to us.
Mr.. A. E. Wishart, of Dodge county, sug-
Rested that a committee be appointed to
secure the signatures of all the operators in
Georgia to an agreement not to cut any
new boxes He also advocated the adoption
raf raft rf ha ad.
united that turpentine men would never
keep to agreements upon the matter of
wages.
Mr. D. VI. Pierson, of South Carolina,
concurred in the opinion expressed and
urged that a committee be appointed to
attend meeting to be called in Charleston
He suggested that committee of South
Carolina operators be appointed and
requested to call meeting in Charleston,
and Ben Gregg, B. S. Brown, d. NJ Pierson,
F. r. Edwards and DIR. J. NJ. Mccoy were
selected for that purpose.
TO REDUCE THE CROP.
Mai Letford then offered the following
resolution:
WHEREAS, We, the naval stores producers,
realizing the fact that we have produced more
naval stores than the necessities of the world
require. therefore be il
Resolred That we recommend TO the pro
ducers Of naval stores in the States of Georgia,
South Carolina. North Carolina and Alabama
that they Join with us in cutting short the crop
of new boxes the incoming year IS per cent. on
the basis Of the crop of 1885,.
Col E. H. Bird thought the plan stIg-
gested was all right, but it did not reach the
factors VINO often had a surplus of money
with which TO start new men, who would
not be bound by the obligations that re-
5tricted the members of the association.
Mr.. Person said the only way to deal
with the factors WAS a ma them sion, ,,
agreement not to start new men, and il any
one of them breaks it boycott him. He
then offered an addition to the resolution
which suggested that the wages should be
Sl6a month of four weeks and rations to
clippers, and lc. per foot for cutting boxes
The resolution and addition was then
adopted
THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY.
Maj. Letford said that he understood that
the Standard Oil Company controlled the
cutting in Alabama, and a serious question
10 be considered was whether the stopping
of cutting boxes by the Georgia operators
would not stimulate the Standard Oil Com
pany 10 increase the output of Alabama,
and take Georgia labor to do it, He noticed
representative of the Standard Oil Com
pany present, and he would like to hear
from him.
Mr. Carey B. Townsend said that he was
not authorized to speak for his company
that he was not present as a representative
of the Standard Oil Company, but as ma
val stores producer. He did know, how
ever, that the producers of Alabama were
self sustaining, and not being borrowers,
they cut more or less, as they saw fit. As
far as he knew the Standard Oil Company
was not advancing one dollar to operators,
and that being the case, it could not control
the output.
CONFERENCE WITH THE FACTORS
A committee was then appointed TO call
upon the factors and ask them to meet the
association at $3.50 o'clock, and an adjourn
ment was taken until that hour. When the
meeting was called TO order there were
present Messrs. J. r. Williams, +. ID. Blood
worth, of w. w Gordon g. Co. P. Hobert.
of c. J.. Jones q Co. Charles Baldwin, Of
Peacock, Hunt a. Co; Maj. Withers. of
Chisholm a. Co.; j. r. Young, of Ellis.
Young & CO., and z. T. Roberts
Mr.. Baldwin addressed the meeting, and
said that the only way to reduce the pro
duction was to cut fewer boxes AS to
prices he never saw "A meeting of turpentine
men who would not agree to anything in
the way of prices, and go right home and
break the agreement. No uniform rates of
wages could be established for operatives
living near towns could hire labor cheaper
than those living distance away.
Maj. Letfold said the only thing for the
factors 10 do was to promise TO aid the oper-
aters in reducing the output. He had heard